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Ferrari sold no cars until 1948
Racing Before Selling
In 1947, the renamed company built three cars for the Scuderia's racing and entered 14 races, winning seven. The first cars for customers came in 1948 with the 166, introduced at the Turin Motor Show. About a dozen were built that year, both for the team and for wealthy private clients.
First Customers
Two of the first went to American buyers through Luigi Chinetti: Tommy Lee, a wealthy Cadillac dealer in Los Angeles, and Briggs Cunningham, a Procter and Gamble heir. Another went to Gianni Agnelli, whose family founded Fiat.
Le Mans 1949
In 1949, Chinetti entered a 166 in the first post-war running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Enzo did not think the car was ready and did not want it entered. It belonged to the British nobleman Lord Selsdon, and the pair won the race outright, the first major international victory for a Ferrari, without the Ferrari team involved.
A second privately owned 166 raced the same year, entered by another Ferrari client, Pierre Louis-Dreyfus, the grandfather of the actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Why did Luigi Chinetti matter to Ferrari?
Chinetti, born in Italy, won Le Mans in 1932 and 1934 with Alfa Romeo before winning in 1949 with Ferrari. After the war he became Ferrari's importer in the United States and sold cars to American buyers from a New York showroom. In 1958 he founded the North American Racing Team, which raced Ferraris for decades.
Why was the Ferrari 166 called the MM?
MM stands for Mille Miglia. Ferrari's 166 won the 1948 and 1949 editions of that race. The 166 MM was a lightweight open two-seater with a body by the Milan coachbuilder Touring, and its style was called a barchetta, Italian for little boat.
Why did Le Mans restart in 1949?
The 24 Hours of Le Mans was not held between 1940 and 1948 because of World War II and its aftermath. The 1949 race was the first after the break. Chinetti is credited with driving the large majority of the race in the winning Ferrari.
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